Joint List Backs Eisenkot, Paving Way for Him to Become Israel’s Next Prime Minister

In the race to form Israel’s next government, Mr. Gadi Eisenkot, Chairman of the Yashar party, has clearly moved ahead of current Prime Minister Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu. The influential political alliance “Joint List” has formally announced its recommendation to President Mr. Isaac Herzog that Mr. Eisenkot should be the next Prime Minister.

With this decision by the Joint List, Mr. Eisenkot now has the support of up to 67 members in the next Knesset (parliament). This is a clear majority, more than the half needed to form a government. However, supporting him does not mean that the backing parties will finally join Mr. Eisenkot’s new coalition government directly.

It is reported that the unanimous decision of the three parties within the alliance was taken mainly because of strong public demand to stop Mr. Netanyahu and his extremist government from returning to power.

In a statement, the Joint List said the opposition bloc has so far failed to take a firm stand against Mr. Netanyahu’s policies. It also said the bloc has not shown enough will to fight the incitement against Arab citizens and the attempts to weaken their political legitimacy. Still, the alliance said it was necessary to support Mr. Eisenkot to remove Mr. Netanyahu from power.

A representative of the alliance said, “Although Mr. Eisenkot has already received the support of more Knesset members than Mr. Netanyahu, we still think it is important to widen the gap between the two rivals.” In their view, this step will help block Mr. Netanyahu’s chance to stay in power, and any possible effort to keep him in power in the name of national consensus.

A delegation of the Joint List will meet President Mr. Isaac Herzog and formally present this recommendation and support.